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New Year’s Resolution: Try 10 New Marketing Tools

Want to make a New Year’s resolution that will help you grow your business over the next 12 months? Make a commitment to try 10 new marketing tools. This strategy will allow you to branch out and find new customers in avenues you haven’t already cornered. Track your results, and in all likelihood you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find a few that yield excellent results. Add successful marketing tools to your established arsenal, and you can grow your business and generate greater profits every year after. Postcards, posters, business cards, flyers, sales letters, and websites are all common marketing tools you probably already use (if not, try them first); here are 10 more marketing tools you might not be using that you should resolve to try in the new year.

1. Facebook Promote

You probably have an established Facebook page for your company or brand, but how often do you pay a few bucks to really get the word out? When you make a post on Facebook, you’ll notice the option to promote your post. You can choose different values for an estimated number of viewers, which will undoubtedly me hundreds or even thousands more people you will reach with just a regular post. Typically, you can reach thousands of people for under $25.

2. Vinyl Banners

Vinyl banners are cheap to print, durable and – most importantly – attention-getting. Place vinyl banners in high-traffic areas and in areas your target audience frequents. Doing so will help you get both the attention of a broad audience and a highly-targeted audience, thus giving you excellent market coverage for an incredibly low investment.

3. Door Hangers

When was the last time you invested in a door hanger marketing campaign? Door hangers are cheap to produce and have zero postage cost. Simply recruit a group of volunteers to help you canvas targeted neighborhoods, then reward them with a pizza or cocktail party afterwards!

4. Non-Google Ad Networks

Google AdWords is by far the best-known digital ad network, but it’s far from being the only one. In fact, many businesses report better results with other ad networks. Rocketful and AdRoll are just two of many you can check out.

5. Calendars

Many companies hesitate to print calendars due to what they believe is a large initial investment; however, when you break it down calendars cost you less than one penny per person per day. Calendars are useful and give customers value, so they’re actually used and not ignored. For year round marketing from a single investment, you won’t find a cheaper marketing tool than calendars.

6. Magnets

Magnets are also powerful marketing tools that customers use or see daily, and can be printed for less than calendars. Magnets can be themed as sports schedules, calendars, helpful kitchen tip sheets, emergency numbers and more; so they’re useful and will be used. Imagine getting your brand in front of a targeted customer base every time they go to the fridge for a glass of milk. That’s what magnets do for you.

7. Augmented Reality

Take your marketing efforts to the mobile world with a memorable augmented reality campaign. Or, develop an app that serves your customers and gets your brand in front of them every day. Take advantage of mobile marketing opportunities to bring your business into the new age.

8. Invitation Cards

Sales letters and postcards are great, but if you’re hosting a special event (or even offering a one-on-one consultation), a personalized invitation card can be a more powerful marketing tool. Hand-write your invitation cards if possible; if you’re sending too many invitations, use copy and design to make your invitation cards as personal as possible.

9. Stickers

Stickers are under-utilized, especially by small businesses that want to make a big impact. Stickers are perfect for guerrilla marketing tactics. Run a search for guerrilla sticker marketing ideas to find dozens of ways you can creatively print and deploy stickers for profit.

10. Referral Cards

Print perforated referral cards your customers can give to their friends and family members. Offer each customer an incentive when they shop together to double your profits, and double your customer base at the same time. Make sure you collect contact information so you can continue to market to your new customers.

About Brian Morris

Brian Morris serves in various capacities as a freelance writer, content developer and public relations specialist for growing small businesses. When he’s not writing, he can be found on the racquetball court - usually getting his tail kicked by guys 20 years older.

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[...] collection. It’s a brand-new year, so now’s the time to rev up your marketing campaign and try new promotional strategies. Be sure to check out last week’s “Hot Off the Press” for even more New Year design [...]

[...] this month I posted that you should make a concerted effort to try new marketing tools this year. As such, I thought it would be a good idea to develop a series of business marketing challenges, [...]

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The PsPrint Blog is a resource for graphic designers, freelancers, small business owners and fans of print marketing. You'll find helpful techniques on printing everything there is to print, including business cards, postcards, brochures, stickers, invitations, greeting cards, door hangers, magnets and more. The PsPrint Blog shares creative ways to improve your design and layout skills, and useful tips for marketing your business in any medium. We also like to have a little fun, sharing design inspiration and spotlighting some our favorite customers' printed pieces in our "Hot Off the Press" series.